Aftermath
by AwesomeCherry
Summary: Batman is waiting for the team when they step off the Bioship back at the mountain. An episode tag to "Performance".


Batman's waiting for the team when they step off the bioship back in the mountain.

They're sweaty and tired, still flushed with slowly waning adrenaline from their recent victory, and they barely even pause when they see the looming figure of the Dark Knight waiting for them at the bottom of the bioship's ramp. The team doesn't seem to think anything of it, not even the fact that usually Batman at least waits for them inside. But then, they don't know the full significance of their latest mission.

It's not like they know they just went on an extended unauthorized mission. They think this is just Batman's usual micromanaging. They trudge into a ragged semblance of a line and prepare for the mission debriefing and inevitable critique of their performances with thinly veiled resignation.

Dick envies them as he consciously makes his limbs move after his teammates, stepping into the carefully left hole at the dead center of their line. He's not nearly as calm as his teammates, and he fights to keep his suddenly shaking hands out of Batman's laser sharp line of sight.

He manages to keep from grimacing, but it's a close call as the silence stretches. It looks like Bruce got back from his business trip earlier than expected. Dick can't see his eyes through the cowl but judging by the tightness at the corners of his mouth, Bruce is definitely scowling. If Dick had to guess, he'd put money on Bruce glaring a hole right through Dick's bowed head. He shifts noticeably in place as he thinks of how angry Bruce must be. _Please_ , he begs Bruce internally, _don't start a fight in front of the team._

He bites back the apologies that spring to his lips as his teammates wait impatiently for Batman's usual barked, 'Report'.

He ignores their shifting and the elbow that nudges him none to gently in the side. He won't break the silence first, no matter what his teammates might think. They have no idea how many of Batman's rules Dick broke this week.

"Robin, report." Batman barks after a few agonizing minutes where Dick wills his heart not to beat its way out of his chest.

So Dick does, being sure to be as brief and succinct as possible. He glosses over their cover story and doesn't mention Haly's by name, but he's sure Bruce knows exactly what Dick isn't saying. He wouldn't be surprised if Bruce downloaded footage from every security camera and amateur cell phone videographer in Bruges and has meticulously combed through it, assessing just how much danger Dick has put them in. After all, how many brunette, blue-eyed acrobats can there be in the traveling circus circuit?

He doesn't miss Bruce's arms tightening where they're crossed over his chest when he mentions Parasite, a league caliber villain. He's pretty sure the whole team notices the creak of Kevlar noticeably tightening when Dick rushes through the explanation of Parasite getting ahold of Conner, M'gann, and himself.

Batman lets him describe the entire mission without interrupting, something for which Dick is unspeakably grateful for. He's not sure he could have gotten through it if Batman had stopped to question his less than thorough report.

"Dismissed." Batman says, barely waiting for the last word to be out of Dick's mouth before sending the team scattering.

Robin remains in place until his teammates are completely out of eavesdropping range, with the exception of Conner. But Dick trusts Conner not to listen in on one of _Batman's_ private conversations, he may be made of Kryptonian steel, but no one is that brave, or stupid. "Batman-" Robin starts the second they're alone.

"Not here." Bruce gestures sharply to the zeta platform, cutting him off.

Dick hangs his head dejectedly as he enters the cave coordinates into the zeta platform, grateful that Bruce is at least willing to wait until they're back home to start lecturing him. He can't help wondering if this is his last time in the mountain for the foreseeable future. With everything he's done recently, he'll be lucky if Bruce lets him don the costume before he's 20.

He shifts to the side of the platform once he's back in the cave, using every ounce of learned patience to keep from pacing as he waits for what seems like an inordinate amount of time for Bruce to come through after him. "Batman-" Dick tries again, stopping in shock when Bruce pulls down the cowl. Bruce almost never goes cowlless in the cave. Dick's stomach lurches, this is more serious than he expected.

"Change first." Dick bites the inside of his lip, using the pain to keep tears from springing to his eyes. He knew it, knew Bruce would take Robin from him for this. He just thought he would be ready for it.

"Bruce, please-" He tries again but Bruce just gives him a gentle nudge towards their changing area.

"Just change, Dick." There's a momentary pause where Bruce looks physically pained, before he adds, "Please. We'll talk after."

Dick's never been more grateful for his mask in his life. It gives him a few seconds to compose himself and blink his tears away. He made his decision, he'll take the consequences like a man.

He nods miserably and walks listlessly to the changing area, stripping off his costume and donning his meticulously folded clothes left by Alfred and wishes the consequences weren't going to be so damn painful.

When he enters the main area of the cave again, Bruce is still in costume but the cowl is tossed carelessly on the monitor in front of him, footage of the warehouse fire from Bruges splashed across the screen. It's obviously a satellite picture, and just barely visible in the corner of the frame, only decipherable because of the high resolution of the bat computer, are Artemis and Roy, with Dick's semi-conscious figure slung between them.

"Do you want to explain this to me, Dick." It's not a question.

"I told you that parasite got a hold of me. The effects lasted longer than anticipated." Dick shrugs it off, because this is not what they're supposed to be fighting about. Bruce is supposed to be lecturing him about secrecy and the importance of separating their secret identities with their very real public images.

"How long did the effects last?" And there's the Batman steel Dick had expected to be used in the upcoming lecture.

"A few hours, maybe. I wasn't keeping track. Bruce can we please just-"

Bruce cuts him off again, "A few hours. So were you also feeling unwell, unwell enough that you needed physical assistance to walk, during your trapeze performance?" It's phrased as a question, but he obviously doesn't expect an answer. He raises one unimpressed eyebrow and taps something into the keyboard, bringing up a low quality cell phone video of Dick missing M'gann's hand during their act.

"I was having an off night. It got worse after the performance." Dick says uncertainly. "Look, I know I wasn't at peak condition for the mission but I thought it was just the flu or something. I've patrolled through worse. Why are we talking about this Bruce?" _Why aren't you yelling at me about compromising our identities?_ Dick adds silently.

"Why are we talking about this." Bruce repeats incredulously. "You could have been killed. You could have been too slow to dodge one of the hundreds of thousands of round of ammo that were ignited when the fire started. More than that, you could have died during your act. You know you have to be at your best for a trapeze routine. You could have fallen! You _did_ fall!"

Dick flinches back because he hears the silent, _'just like your parents'_. For a second he's back in the big top, looking down as his parents fall, the crowd screaming all around him. "I was fine." He says shakily, thoroughly confused by the direction this lecture has taken. "I mean, I wasn't, but I had to do it anyway."

"No you didn't."

"The mission would have been compromised!"

"You could have died, Dick!"

"But I didn't!" Dick shouts. Bruce looks as close to gutted as Dick has ever seen him, and it makes his stomach sink even further. He takes a deep breath before continuing, he doesn't want to yell at Bruce. "Look I know you didn't want me to compromise our identities like this-"

"You think I'm mad about you taking a case with the circus? Dick, you put yourself at risk physically and emotionally with backup you couldn't rely on because they don't know the truth. You should have come to me."

That stops Dick's protests dead. That wasn't what he was expecting. "It was Haly's," He says softly, looking away from Bruce. "Pop was gonna lose the circus. I couldn't let that happen." He bites his lip, debating, before adding pleadingly, "I couldn't take the chance you wouldn't let me go. I had to help them, Bruce. I had to."

Bruce sighs and rubs his face tiredly. "I know, Dick."

"I'm not sorry I went, but I am sorry I put our identities at risk." Dick offers, trying to make Bruce feel better, because Bruce looks awful. He probably flew home early and went straight to the mountain to find Dick, only to learn Dick had left on a mission he hadn't authorized. Dick is the worst ward/partner in the world.

Bruce huffs. "What about putting yourself at risk needlessly? Are you sorry about that?"

"It _was_ necessary, Bruce. I didn't realize I was sick until the performance had already started, and I couldn't let Pop down just because I wasn't feeling 100%."

"What if M'gann hadn't been able to save you when you fell? What if Conner had misjudged his throw and he knocked you to the ground? Would that have saved the circus?"

"Bruce-" Dick chokes, because he knows. He knows he didn't handle the mission well, didn't follow any of the procedures Bruce drilled into his head. He acted without thinking, acted on feeling alone, and let sentimentality cloud his judgement. "Are you going to take Robin from me?" He asks, swallowing heavily around the lump in his throat.

"No, of course I'm not." Bruce says like it's painful for the words to leave his lips. "I should, but I'm not."

Dick slumps forward with relief, breathing easily for the first time in days. He didn't realize how heavily the thought of Bruce's anger and disappointment had been weighing on him.

"But Dick, risk to our identities aside, the thing you need to understand about what was wrong with this mission is that you disregarded one of the most important factors in any mission."

Dick hunches his shoulders further, failure clawing at his insides.

Bruce sighs again and places a firm hand on Dick's shoulder. "Dick, you didn't think about yourself. You put yourself at risk during the performance, and later by going on a mission, while you were compromised. That is unacceptable. I can't lose you, do you understand?"

It's the closest Bruce has ever come to an 'I love you' while they were both fully conscious and uninjured, and it makes the feeling of failure slowly recede inside of Dick. "I'm sorry I worried you."

"Don't do it again, kiddo. I don't think Batman would look intimidating with grey hair."


End file.
